Captain's Quarters -

George Will "sets the agenda" by going beyond Hillary's hips, to a sighting of the most unpopular leftist up on the donk's stage. (Where they know BIG debates aren't really all that interesting. Sort'a like a try-out for "What's My Line?"

Does it matter?

If the GOP were on a roll, you'd see a lot more center-staging over the GOP agenda.

Instead, not just Ma and Pa Kettle! But look at this one. An oddballer, who hasn't got a chance, getting his own spotlight, just the same.

Why is that?

What's worth saving in this scenario?

The illiberals' transparent, and often proclaimed, objective is to silence talk radio.

Oh, no, no, no! Not at all! What the liberals actually want is to keep nasty ol' media conglomerates from gaining too much influence and, by purchasing / controlling so many stations, having virtual monopolies. It's not about stifling free speech! Heavens, no! It's all about the free market, and fairness, and love, and puppy dogs!

/sarcasm

Seriously, look for the left to try very hard to dress up this pig so as to fool people into believing that they aren't out to shut down Rush, Sean, Laura, et al.

By trying to again empower the government to regulate broadcasting, illiberals reveal their lack of confidence in their ability to compete in the marketplace of ideas, and their disdain for consumer sovereignty—and hence for the public.

Bingo! Let's remember that libs are essentially elitist totalitarians; they neither need nor want the input or opinion of the peons. If only The Right People (i.e. them) were in charge, the country would be a utopia where homosexual spouses could drive past the abortion clinic under blue skies in their electric cars, and pink-cheeked children could play healthy, non-competitive games in unionized public schools, and everybody would love each other.

AND THAT #&@*%&$ LIMBAUGH WOULDN'T BE POLLUTING THE AIR WAVES WITH HIS HATE SPEECH!!!! DEATH TO LIMBAUGH!!!!!

The Left blames talk radio for many of the nation's ills.

Which is, of course, nonsense. The nation's ills have been caused by the televising of Janet Jackson's boob.

"The Left blames talk radio for many of the nation's ills.

Which is, of course, nonsense."

Thank you Jimmy Yoohoo for confirming that the leftwing is made up primarily of idiots.

Nonsense jiHymas... there is no shortage of boobs on television, nor is there a shortage here.

Hey if people want to keep listening to a knucklehead like Limbaugh that's their right. Nobody's forcing them to believe his fact-challenged rants or his sexist cracks. However, if sponsors are finally tired of him putting them in jeopardy of huge embarrassments - like he often does with his overtly racist histrionics, then they have every right to can his ass. It's that simple, and doesn't require any silly plans for regulating airtime.

Precisely Dwight, precisely!

Hey, if we could get the same approach to campaign finance reform we'd be gettin' somewhere. If people want to keep electing knuckle-headed stooges for some trade group or wooden-headed zillionaire, then that's their right. All we need is instant info and complete transparency, and it doesn't require any silly plans for micromanaging campaign cashflow either.

dwightkschrute said:

"Hey if people want to keep listening to a knucklehead like Limbaugh that's their right. "

LOL. That "knucklehead" clears some $20 million a year. We should all be so "dumb".

"Nobody's forcing them to believe his fact-challenged rants or his sexist cracks."

Credible examples of such, please? And don't forget that a PEW Media Study recently found out that Rush's listeners are better-informed, hence smarter, than the people who get their news from PBS and NPR.

"However, if sponsors are finally tired of him putting them in jeopardy of huge embarrassments - like he often does with his overtly racist histrionics,"

Such as? Remember, Limburger's not the one who called Osama Obama the "magic Negro". A writer for the leftist LA Times came up with the phrase first.

"then they have every right to can his ass."

They can't "can his ass" because he owns the show himself. Sure, they can pull their ads, but he'll just find new sponsors. He's probably got a waiting list of advertisers that he doesn't have room for now...

Here in the United Soviet State of Washington, our Supreme Court unanimously overruled a lower court on a free speech issue.

Two talk radio hosts were advocating for an initiative to overturn a gas tax increase. The opposition (City governments and a Law firm that stood to gain millions on the bond sales) sued, saying that the talk show hosts speech was actually in-kind contributions to the initiative. Combined with a state law that limits contributions three weeks before an election, the suit and lower courts ruling in effect put a gag order on the talk show hosts.

A decent recap is here: John Fund

The "fairness doctrine" is only another way for the libs to try to use government power to squelch opinions or positions that do not align with their views.

Oh man can't believe we have to go through this again, but for those of you that really refuse to believe this guy is anything other than a college dropout that just figured out how to make a lot of money saying ridiculous things that as he puts it "angry white males" want to hear, well here goes:

Rush: "Carol Lam was a campaign manager! These people would normally be made ambassadors, but Clinton put her in as a US attorney."
Fact: Lam was never a campaign manager and was named a US Attorney by George W Bush

Rush: "Banks take the risks in issuing student loans and they are entitled to the profits." 1993
Fact: Student loans are federally insured therefore no risk.

Rush: "Don't let the liberals deceive you into
believing that a decade of sustained growth without inflation in America (in the '80s) resulted in a bigger gap between the have and the have-nots. Figures compiled by the Congressional Budget Office dispel that myth"
Fact: CBO numbers for after-tax incomes show that in 1980 the richest fifth of our country had eight times the income of the poorest fifth. By 1989, the ratio was more than 20-to-1.

Rush responding to Pelosi quoting a JFK Inaugural Address: "He didn't say it to the world! JFK said 'ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country'! JFK didn't say that... I tell ya, it's Clintonesque... they're misquoting their own idols now."
Fact: Kennedy's quote Pelosi used is "My fellow citizens of the world, ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man."

Rush: "75 percent of the people earning minimum wage" are teenagers
Fact: 32% of people earning minimum wage are teenagers

Racism -
to a black caller - "take that bone out of your nose and call me back,"

on Donovan McNabb - "The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well. There is a little hope invested in McNabb, and he got a lot of credit for the performance of this team that he didn't deserve."

on black opinions - "Why should Blacks be heard? They're 12% of the population. Who the hell cares."

on Jesse Jackson - "have you ever noticed how all composite pictures of wanted criminals resemble Jesse Jackson?"

on Mexicans - "I'm serious, let the unskilled jobs that take absolutely no knowledge whatsoever to do--let the stupid and unskilled Mexicans do that work."

It's easy to go on and on with more quotes, but frankly if someone doesn't already see this guy for the shameless huckster he is then they're just living in their own reality. However, I did want to display just a few so to address Del's request for credible examples. Of course with Del using phrases like "Osama Obama" it's pretty clear which of the previously mentioned categories he falls into.

Life under the "Fairness Doctrine" could be way more interesting than the illiberals are planning. Talk radio may be dominated by Rush and other lesser-known conservatives. But the hourly "news" breaks, which run on a much larger set of stations, are still pure MSM at their baldly-biased best. Last weekend ABC radio gave us a 4 or 5 sentence "story" about Reid, which started out stating as a fact that we have lost the war in Iraq. Or how many times did they tell us that Scooter Libby was on trial, then convicted, of leaking CIA agent Plame's identity to the press.

Sure, radio stations don't have the resources to keep track of this stuff, but the Army of Davids sure does. Any and all news beyond the weather, sports and traffic is going to disappear from radio AND tv. And don't be so sure that illiberal propaganda like The West Wing is going to survive a new Fairness Doctrine, either.

Just amazing.
this Dwight guy is going to take on Rush. Best of luck.

I listen to rush when I get the chance. I find him both insightful and entertaining. I have no problem with his opinions because they are just his opinions. It seems to me that Dwight wants to make a PC case against Rush.

this ain't the student union pal. No academic thought police here. No double secret probation.

If you don't like what the man has to say, get your own show.

And if you want your own show, I know exactly where I can arrange it for you.

/sales mode OFF

Well if you were to read my original post, I clearly state that if people want to keep listening to him that's fine. However, someone challenged my statements that Rush often made comments that were fact-challenged, racist, or sexist. So my intent was to provide documentation of that fact. Again, if people want to listen to that kind of radio that's their choice, and the government shouldn't interfere.

I'm not trying to "take him on". He's a professional radio personality, he knows exactly what he's doing and he's good at it. This means being good at making sure his self described "angry white male", Republican listeners get the red meat they want. So he gives them material that's racist, sexist, and puts the blame on just about anything, from obesity to the shootings at Virginia Tech, on Democrats and liberals. Again, I have no problem with him doing that, it's opinion and his prerogative. But to try and claim that Rush doesn't play to those hot buttons is either disingenuous or naive.

dwightkschrute,
tilting at windmills is very entertaining to watch.
Please do continue.
I particularly like the way you can cut-n-paste alleged quotes and out-of-context statements.
Do you save them up to use frequently?

''However, someone challenged my statements that Rush often made comments that were fact-challenged, racist, or sexist. So my intent was to provide documentation of that fact.''

Rush has been on the air for 15 hours a week for something like 20 years. And this list of lame, out-of-context, mosly wrong statements, is the best you can do to prove he ''often made comments...''

Weak, very weak.

And when you cut and paste from someone else's work, you should cite your source, in the name of intellectual honesty.

Amen, cathyf. And it really doesn't matter what the Supreme Court rules either; as lots of parody writers found out, the ruling that parody was protected fair use didn't stop Disney from inviting them for an expensive trip thru the court system to make sure their work was covered.

dwightkschrute said

(blah, blah, blah)

LOL. Giving me a batch of quotes without any context (not to mention any link, dates, etc) doesn't prove anything. Did you get these from some left wing website, or did you listen to Limberger's show yourself and take notes?

dwightkschrute said

"Of course with Del using phrases like "Osama Obama" it's pretty clear which of the previously mentioned categories he falls into."

I hate to bring a little reality to your make-believe world, but I'm not the one who originated that "Osama Obama" phrase. It was in fact uttered by (Democrat) Teddy Kennedy.

I'll support the Fairness Doctrine if NPR gurantees Ann Coulter a five-year contract in drive time.

dwightskrute,

Let's see if we can get back on topic. You don't like Limbaugh; I think we all get that. If you want to try to persuade us Dittoheads that he's stupid, or mean, or a bigot... Well, it's your time to waste.

But what would you do with El Rushbo if you had the power? That's what this post was originally about: use of government power to silence certain voices in the name of "fairness". Do you support the return of the Fairness Doctrine? Do you think that Rush and other talk shows you think are racist / hateful / divisive / blah-blah-blah should be taken off the air, or that radio stations carrying such programs should be made to "balance" their programming?

When the gop gets hit with bad news I love to listen to ElRushbo. He doesn't spin the bad news like some. When my party whipped the gop in the midterms in 06, I listened to Rush and Hannitty religeously for a MONTH. My favorite line from Rush was when all his callers were crying to him about the midterm losses. Rush told them "elections have consequences,get over it." I love that big teddybear.

Let the Democrat buffons crayon together their silly legislation.

It will spell the end of AM radio. And if the Democrats are good at anything, it's at killing jobs and industries.

In Democrat-land, it's always 1967 and apparently they believe people are still glued to transistor radio.

Rush will easily transition to Internet radio.

And if the "Fairness Doctrine" is such a good idea, why doesn't apply to TV as well, where 99% of the programming tilts to the left? I guess that answers the question . . .

dwightkschrute:

You mentioned something about Limberger making "sexist" comments on-air, and I challenged you for examples. Yet you never gave me any examples of "sexism" in your reply, nor did you respond to what I said about his getting the "Magic Negro" Obama quote from the leftist LA Times.

You also never gave me a source for the cites you DID give me, so I must assunme that they're not correct. Talk to me!

(Sound of crickets)

Lol...Did Mr. Kucinich take off the tinfoil beanie long enough to realize that if the Fairness Doctrine was actually applied they'd have to shut down all the media except ESPN?....rolling on floor laughing by now...at least conservative talk radio SAYS its conservative!